1654 Sunnydale
Visitacion Valley
This Beniamino Bufano statue is of a Bear over the Head of Peace. It was done somewhere around 1935-1940 and stands in front of the Community Center at the Sunnydale Projects. Bufano was a prolific sculptor in his time and his work can be found all over San Francisco.
Sunnydale was built in the 1940’s as a means to house military personnel and their families, it was later bought by the city of San Francisco and converted to a low-income housing project.
The Housing Authority was created in 1938 to help poor families build better lives by creating temporary subsidized housing. Over the years, the once well-kept projects turned into havens for crime, and the services that families need to get out and move on – such as child care, job training, legal help and counseling – evaporated with cutbacks.
Sunnydale, is quite possibly the most dangerous, depressed and decrepit area of the city. The dilapidated barracks that make up the development are lined up on a hillside in the shadow of the Cow Palace, opposite McLaren Park.
An estimated 1,633 people live in the square mile of concrete housing. Once considered a nice place for a family to live, the development is now home to those who can’t afford anything else.
The above was from a February 2008 SF Gate article by Leslie Fulbright. A two part series titled Life at the Bottom.
Now that you’ve acquainted me with Benny, I will look for his work. I love his style! It’s good that this piece in Sunnyvale hasn’t been defaced. Sounds like a very sad place.
You sure get around in SF. Like your previous commenter said, it’s nice to see the artwork hasn’t been defaced. It’s been years since I have passed by that neighborhood.